Pharmacy & Biomolecular Science – Age Concern Eastbourne

An innovative project that will pilot the development of a set of biomarkers that can be used to measure the health benefits of activities which attempt to combat social isolation in older people. This aim is to improve wellbeing within this group.

Name of project: Optimizing interventions through an understanding of the biomarkers of social isolation in older people. What three words would you use to describe your project? Stress, Isolation and Ageing Summary of project (up to 500 words): Lifespan in the UK is increasing. Studies by Independent Age, International Longevity Centre-UK and English Longitudinal Study of Ageing have shown that 15% of older men and 11% of women experience moderate to severe loneliness. Social isolation in older people increases morbidity and premature death and is as detrimental to health as smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Despite the clear and serious health issues of social isolation, the precise physiological and biochemical changes that drive the increased morbidity and mortality have been little studied. This proposal seeks to form a new partnership between the University of Brighton, Age Concern Eastbourne, and the local Eastbourne community, to carry out a pilot study with the aim of improving wellbeing in socially isolated older people. Many councils and charities have implemented a range of interventions to alleviate social isolation in older people and many have been shown to improve health and wellbeing. However, although there is a large range of possible interventions those that can be offered by any one council/charity are limited due to limited finances. This is a problem as so far it has been difficult to quantify and compare the health benefits of the different interventions and whether the same intervention benefits different people to the same extent This partnership is designed to identify a range of physiological and biochemical markers that underlie social isolation. Using this range of biomarkers we plan to screen the efficacy of different interventions at improving health, improve the interventions to maximise their health benefits and to match the right intervention to the right person to maximise health and wellbeing. In addition to improving the health outcomes of older people this study will also increase awareness of the problems of social isolation in older people in the Eastbourne area through joint presentations and articles. Our long term goal is to use the pilot data generated from this study to apply for funding in partnership with Age Concern and the Eastbourne community to carry out a long term assessment of the health benefits of a range of interventions in this population. Who your project will work with (and where): The partnership has been organised around the delivery of a pilot project that will focus on a cohort of isolated older people from Eastbourne. Eastbourne has one of the largest concentrations of older people with residents in the Meads district having an average age of 71.1 years, the oldest in the U.K. compared to a national average of 39.7 years. Within this district it is estimated that approximately 2000 people are living alone. What difference you hope your project will achieve: The project will enable us to understand more about the biochemical and physiological changes that occur in socially isolated older people and how these potentially increase morbidity and mortality. By understanding this process we will have a means to be able to ensure that interventions designed to alleviate social isolation are optimised to maximise health benefits and that the right intervention is being offered to the right person. Overall, the project will increase the public’s awareness of the detrimental effects of social isolation in older people and, through our improved understanding of the mechanisms by which isolation drives illness and premature death, be able to improve the health and wellbeing of older people.

Contact: Mark Yeoman - M.S.Yeoman@brighton.ac.uk